In Champions League qualifying, Galatasaray faces Young Boys in playoffs to reach new 36-team format
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Turkish champion Galatasaray was drawn Monday against Young Boys, currently last in the Swiss league, in a playoff round to advance to the new Champions League format.
Neither team has started the season well. Galatasaray lost 5-0 Saturday in the domestic Super Cup against city rival Besiktas and Young Boys is winless in four games to open defense of its Swiss league title.
Young Boys hosts the first leg of the playoff on Aug. 20 or 21 in Bern and the return game is Aug. 27 or 28 in Istanbul.
The winner advances to the new 36-team Champions League that no longer plays the first phase in traditional four-team groups. Instead, all teams will play eight games instead of six, through January instead of December, and are ranked in a single standings. The fixtures are drawn Aug. 29 in Monaco and start on Sept. 17.
Seven entries will be decided in the playoff round, with the lineup decided by the third qualifying round which begins Tuesday.
In the playoffs, Dinamo Zagreb will face Qarabag or Ludogorets, and Red Star Belgrade is away in the first leg against Bodo/Glimt or competition debutant Jagiellonia Bialystok, the champion of Poland.
In a separate draw path for teams that did not win their domestic league, Fenerbahce, coached by Jose Mourinho, or Lille will play Slavia Prague or Union Saint-Gilloise.
Salzburg, which has qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup, must get past Twente in the third qualifying round to earn a playoff against Dynamo Kyiv or Rangers.
Teams that lose in the Champions League playoffs will enter the Europa League in September. The second-tier competition also is expanding to 36 teams in a single league standings.
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